Axel May with AFP / Photo credit: CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP 13:59 p.m., May 15, 2023

Several players from Toulouse and Nantes refused to play with the rainbow flocked jersey on this weekend of fight against homophobia in football, reviving the controversies sparked last year already by Idrissa Gana Gueye.

Ligue 1 players have refused to wear the rainbow shirt for the weekend of fighting homophobia in football, because of their personal beliefs. This is not the first time that tensions around this day of struggle against homophobia have been felt. Last year, Senegalese international Idrissa Gana Gueye, then at PSG, had already been strongly suspected of having declared forfeit for not wearing this shirt. He had been summoned to explain himself by the National Ethics Council of the French Football Federation (FFF), but had received a flood of support in Senegal.

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This time, it was the absences during the Toulouse-Nantes match on Sunday that were noticed. On the Nantes side, Mostafa Mohamed has indicated his refusal to participate in the operation. On the Toulouse side, three players from the squads expressed their disagreement, including Saïd Hamulic and Zakaria Aboukhlal. The latter justified himself on social networks in the name of respect for his own beliefs.

A "catastrophic" timing says Brest coach Eric Roy

According to Brest coach Eric Roy, this day of fight against homophobia is poorly placed in the calendar. "It's catastrophic because there are players who have a problem with it. Everyone is free to express their opinions. We must not make this day in the last three games which are matches for the survival of clubs. You have to do this day in December or September. It is a responsibility of the League to have placed this day at this time, in the last games, "he advanced at the microphone of Europe 1.

The Professional Football League has been organizing this day against homophobia for five years the weekend before the World Day against Homophobia, namely May 17 this year.